Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Oakwood Park – Part 2

It’s a good thing that Google Maps has an outdated view of Oakwood Park from July 2014 (above). At least we can see how Oakwood Park used to look before the park improvements began late last fall.

It’s pretty shocking if you compare the above photo to how it looks now with so many trees cut down.

Although the story had been in the news for months, I hadn’t had a good look at the park since last December. So I drove over there on Sunday to take a look as well as some photos. Of course, the leafless trees and soggy grounds made it look even more barren and depressing.

Looking east towards Grove Avenue (Route 57) from the center of the park

It seemed like a good idea to make $9 million worth of major improvements to the park, which had seen better days. To be fair, it was known all along that the first phase of the project would require the removal of existing trees.

But somehow, seeing a bunch of park trees cut down has a way of making one feel empty and sad – especially with the long wait expected between the cutting down of the trees and the next phase of the improvement project. Thus the whole thing has been more or less put on hold for now, according to this story.

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I snapped this photo (below) of the park back on a Sunday in late December on the way home from Elyria. With the fresh stumps dotting the landscape, it looked as if Paul Bunyan and his Seven Axemen had laid waste to the place.

The view from Route 57

Here’s hoping that the community decides what it wants in a new, improved Oakwood Park and that the plan unfolds smoothly and quickly.